Las Vegas couple charged with fraud in marketing scheme

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

A 19-count federal indictment was unsealed Wednesday alleging that a Las Vegas couple committed fraud while running a multilevel marketing scheme that caused about 50,000 people to lose more than $30 million.

Donald and Sue Ann Mikrut are named in the indictment and are alleged to have used their company, American Business Publications Inc., as a base for a scheme to entice customers to join multilevel marketing companies that sold health-care products or purported to teach people how to get out of debt.

According to the indictment, customers were required to pay American Business Publications onetime marketing fees of between $60 and $24,000 to join the businesses and were promised that they would receive monthly payments equal to the amount of the fee that was contributed.

Those who joined the marketing companies were promised that their fees could be refunded, but the indictment states that, "Donald Mikrut then and there well knew that he and American Business Publications Inc. were incapable of refunding every penny to every customer, because he had made no provisions to ensure that ABP would have sufficient funds to provide refunds to all the customers."

The indictment goes onto allege that some of the money paid into one of the multilevel companies did not go toward building the business as promised, but instead went toward refunding money to customers involved with another of Mirkut's companies.

The couple is charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting, all dating back to 1995.